Love Keeps Dragon On
by Thunder Magus
Summary: You asked for a sequel, you got it! It was a love story that seemed meant to never be. Two young dragons in love, torn apart by their differences. That was ten years ago. Now, the threads of fate may once again unite two dragons. Only this time, under more dire circumstances, for dark forces are stirring in the Dragonlands, and they have their sights set on Equestria.
1. Chapter 1

The golden light of morning shone through the shattered stained glass window of a quiet cathedral's attic, rousing the creature who made her home there from her sleep. She stretched her front legs, yawned and beat her wings to stretch them as well, then looked to the sunrise out her window, which had been broken in such a way it looked like a mouthful of long, jagged glass teeth. The reds, blues and purples of that window glittered in the morning sunlight, a beautiful spectacle that was one of the many reasons she'd chosen to hide away in the attic of that church ever since the… accident… six years ago.

The creature tuned her ears to the murmur of voices below, another reason she enjoyed living in the attic of the cathedral. Once a week, the ponies gathering there to give worship to higher beings filled her with a sense of joy and ease. When she heard those voices, she didn't feel so alone. The soft sound of their prayers, the upbeat tune of the songs they sang helped comfort the lonely creature.

Dragons never provided worship to anyone or anything but themselves. They didn't care about beauty, unless it was a nest of sparkling gems. Dragons never gave her the sense of faith and hope that the equines did, which was one of the reasons she avoided going to the Dragonlands bordering Equestria. No, compared to ponies, dragons were a nasty sort.

The only problem was, the creature residing in that dusty old attic was a dragon herself. A dragon who, long ago, before her parents' tragic accident, spent time in Equestria. The ponies welcomed her into one of their towns as if she was one of them, threw her an amazing party and offered her their friendship. Dragons never made friends unless they wanted something from another dragon, be it material things like a slab of gold or a flawless gem, or the peace of mind safety in numbers gave them.

The dragon looked out the window with her icy blue eyes and took in the scent of morning dew, but kept her ears on the sounds of worship below. She loved to watch the sunrise. This was her favorite part of the day. It was so beautiful. The attic offered a perfect view of the east horizon. In the sunrise it looked like the skyline had been set ablaze. The reptile let a sigh out through her nostrils as she watched. Someone… from long ago had once told her that Princess Celestia controlled the sun. No dragon she'd ever met could accomplish such a feat, so why were they so arrogant? A pony with that kind of power could make dragons bow before her. Not that it mattered; they all lived outside Celestia's jurisdiction.

She remembered that individual. Even now, ten years later, the thought of him made her happy. There was one dragon other than her parents that ever made her happy. Spike. The dragon who lived among ponies and adopted their ideals of honesty and friendship. He was the only dragon who ever shared anything with her, the only dragon who ever told her he loved her.

Her body had changed since then. Would he recognize her if they ever met again? Her body had grown four times as tall since then, her legs longer and her wings wider. She was still just a child before her parents died; now she was in her teens. How she managed to survive on her own for that long at such a young age still amazed her. Maybe it was the thought of seeing Spike again that kept her alive, or maybe it was the ponies. Their kindness fascinated her. Why couldn't dragons be more like them? Maybe she was a pony in her previous life.

With a sigh, the blue dragon beat her wings and flew out the huge shattered window in search of breakfast. This was usually a combination of mice, insects and a bunch of tree leaves. Sometimes she'd be lucky enough to snag a small bird out of midflight. On such a pleasant, cool morning, the pickings were bound to be good. The cathedral grew smaller as she approached the forest a couple acres away.

"Hey, miss Sapphire!"

The dragoness smiled as a child's voice from below struck a familiar chord. She did a backwards loop in midair and descended under the trees to her feet. A pegasus filly with yellow fur and a sky-blue mane smiled innocently up at Sapphire. A rope draped across her back connected two wicker baskets to either side of the filly's body. Round berries in every color of the rainbow lined the bottoms of both baskets.

"Good morning, Sunset Breeze!" Sapphire said in her most cheerful tone. "Out picking berries for your mom again?"

"Yeah." Sunset gazed at the ground instead of her friend, scratching her hoof into the dirt. "It's about all I can do, since I can't fly and help with the clouds."

Sensing Sunset's shame, Sapphire knelt down to bring herself to eye level with the filly and placed her claw on her shoulder. The little pegasus brought her head back up so Sapphire could look her in her innocent blue eyes. "Hey, you'll be a great flier someday, I know it! You just can't give up hope."

"You really think so, miss Sapphire?"

"Sure!"

Sunset Breeze smiled at her reptilian friend. "Do you think you could teach me a few tricks someday? Like that backflip you just did, that was cool!"

"You bet I could, Sunset! You know, you might even be as good as the leader of the Rainbowlts someday."

The filly's smile widened. "Really? You think I could be as good as THE Rainbow Dash?!"

Sapphire brought Sunset closer in a small hug. "Kiddo, you can do anything you set your mind on."

"Thanks, miss Sapphire!" Sunset hugged the dragon tight as if she were a big scaly teddy bear. "I'm so glad I know a nice dragon like you. Mommy says the dragons across the border are all really mean."

"They can be, yes, and we're very close to the border of the Dragonlands. It's very dangerous there. I want you to promise me you won't ever go there, no matter how curious you get, okay?"

Sunset cocked her head, her long blue mane dancing with the movement. "But miss Sapphire, you made me promise last week!"

"And I want you to promise me this week, too. I'm not a fully grown dragon yet; I might not be able to help you if anything bad happens."

Those innocent blue eyes narrowed with a hint of annoyance and Sunset pulled herself away. "Mommy can, she's in the Rainbowlts. She's very tough! She's not scared of anything!"

Sapphire lowered her voice to let the little filly know she was serious. "Sunset, have you ever seen a full grown dragon?"

The pegasus shook her head no.

"Ok, listen to me. They're very, very big."

"Bigger than you?"

"Much bigger."

"Bigger than a tree?"

"Yes."

Sunset's eyes darted for a second. "Bigger than… a house?"

"Yes."

"So how come you're not mean like them?"

A chuckle escaped Sapphire's maw. The innocence of young ponies endeared her. "Because I didn't grow up around other dragons. I grew up in Equestria."

"Why not? Don't you have a mommy and daddy?"

"I did." Sapphire gritted her teeth against the pain of the memory. "But they're gone now. Never coming back."

Once more, the young filly embraced her dragon friend. "I'm sorry, miss Sapphire. I didn't mean to make you remember. I don't know what I'd do without my mommy and daddy."

Sapphire flashed a smile to let the filly know the mention of her parents was taken with good grace. "It's ok. If you love your mommy, you should get back to picking berries for her." The dragon stood up and patted Sunset on her head. "I gotta go catch me some breakfast. You keep that chin up, okay, kiddo?"

Sunset's big blue eyes looked up at her friend with a smile. "Ok, miss Sapphire, I will!"

With a smile of her own, Sapphire turned the other way and took one step in her search for breakfast before Sunset's voice stopped her again.

"Miss Sapphire!"

Sometimes Sapphire wondered why she bothered with fillies, but she turned around with a smile nonetheless. "Yes?"

"Can you do that trick again?"

"I don't know. I'm kinda hungry."

"Come on, do the trick again!" Sunset stamped her hoof in protest.

After a sigh, Sapphire held out her paw, knowing that Sunset wouldn't be satisfied until she saw her ice dragon powers for the hundredth time. Cold air swirled above the dragon's paw, gradually transforming into frost until a ball of ice that sparkled in the morning sunlight formed into her paw. The dragon knelt down and handed it to the filly.

"Brrrr! It's cold! Real ice! Until I met you, I thought only unicorns could do magic. Thanks, Sapphire!" The young filly gave Sapphire one last hug before running off in search of more berries.

Once Sunset Breeze was out of sight, Sapphire hung her head and sighed. She regretted mentioning Rainbow Dash. She'd met Rainbow all those years ago, before she became the most famous flier in Equestria and founded the Rainbowlts, the team of fliers who worked with the Wonderbolts. She was a good friend of Spike's.

Of course, she could always go back to Ponyville and find Spike again, but fear and embarrassment held her back. When she left Ponyville with her parents, she thought she'd said her goodbyes with him. Would he even remember her, ten years later?

_Sapphire, you big coward. You're bringing this on yourself. Why are you hiding away like this? Why not just go back and see him again? Maybe because I haven't figured out where I really belong yet. I don't really fit in with either the ponies or the dragons. The ponies are scared of me and I don't get along with other dragons._

Tears welled up in the dragon's eyes. What should she do…?


	2. Chapter 2

Spike had always known this day would come. For the last few years, it filled him with an odd sense of dread. Yet, at the same time, he couldn't wait for it. This was the day he packed up to leave Twilight's library and see the world for himself. Ten years ago, he met a young female dragon named Sapphire and fell in love with her. Unfortunately, circumstances forced her to leave Equestria with her parents, who deemed the country of ponies to be unfit for adult dragons. Spike left Ponyville and tried to catch up with Sapphire, to make their relationship work. It wasn't until he was a day's worth of running from Ponyville before he realized he wasn't ready to leave his hometown and his friends behind, especially Twilight. That was the last time he tried to venture off on his own.

But now, ten years later and a teenage dragon, he was ready. With a leather bag over his shoulder, he and Twilight Sparkle stood in the middle of the ground floor of the library. The time had come.

"Do you got everything packed, Spike?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"I think so!" The teenage dragon let his bag drop to the floor and knelt down so he could sort through it. "Gems, a quill, spare quills, thirty feet of parchment, more gems. Plenty of daffodil sandwiches." Spike gasped and smiled as he uncovered a roll of blue wool and rubbed it against his cheek. "My old blanket!"

Twilight giggled. "Spike, you've had that blanket since you were a baby. Don't you think you should buy a new one? It's had more holes than we've had adventures!"

Spike's eyes darted from the implication and the mild embarrassment of it. He pulled the old patched-up blanket from his cheek and set it down. "Uh, you're right, Twilight. I'm… too old for this stupid thing." Spike waited for Twilight to turn around and snuck the blanket back in his pack. "I could never give you up, old friend."

"Do you have the two hundred bits I gave you?" Twilight asked as Spike rose back to his feet.

"Well." Spike lowered his head, cupped his paws behind his back and twisted his foot. "Umm… yes and no."

Twilight raised a forehoof and gave Spike a quizzical look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well… it's 185 bits now. I bought a cake from Pinkie Keen's yesterday."

Twilight furrowed her eyebrows. "TWO cakes? Do you really think you need all that sugar?"

"What do you mean 'two'?" Spike tilted his head in confusion. Such a lecture from Twilight was common, but he'd only bought one cake.

"Oh, nothing. Just… drop by Pinkie Keen's again and talk to Pinkie Pie before you leave. She told me she's got something for you."

Knowing Pinkie Pie and gathering evidence from Twilight's previous statement, it was probably a going-away cake. If Spike was really lucky, Pinkie would have topped it with all sorts of delicious gems and extra frosting; just the way he liked it.

"I was going to drop by there and say goodbye to Pinkie anyway." Spike reached down to grab his bag and sling it over his shoulder. He stood face-to-face with Twilight. Ten years ago, he was barely tall enough to reach her chest. Now he was nearly as tall as two Twilights. His wings had also grown in, but he was still not a strong flier, even though he'd been taking lessons from Rainbow Dash.

The urge to cry swelled in Spike's stomach, but he embraced his surrogate mother before his eyes had a chance to leak. "Goobye, Twilight. Thanks for everything you did for me. I'm gonna miss you so much."

Tears ran down Twilight's cheek as she wrapped her forehooves around the dragon. For a few seconds, she forced the tears back down. "Goodbye, Spike. I'm going to miss you. For Celestia's sake, you'd better write to me tonight!"

Though his fingertips tingled with anxiety and he could barely stop himself from shaking, Spike pulled himself away from Twilight, giving her an assuring smile.

"I will, Twilight. I guess… this is goodbye."

"For now. You'll stop back and visit, right?"

"Of course I will!"

Twilight followed Spike out the door into the warm afternoon sun to see the dragon off. He afforded one last look back at Twilight, who waved him off as he started his round of goodbyes. "Bye, Spike! Take care of yourself!"

"You, too!"

The first ponies on Spike's list were Applejack and her family. Seven years ago, A.J. met a stallion named Bartlett Pear, who lost his late father's pear farm in a storm and came to Ponyville looking for work. He'd started out as a hired hoof for Sweet Apple Acres, but wound up falling in love with Applejack after a few months of work. Two years later, they got married. As a result, they decided to plant pear trees alongside the apple trees and nearly doubled the farm's income.

The old green pony spending the afternoon in her rocking chair on the porch of the farmhouse was a common sight of Sweet Apple-Pear Acres. Sometimes Spike forgot she actually lived there, and wasn't just a porch decoration.

"Good afternoon, Granny Smith!" Spike shouted. The old pony didn't respond; she was either asleep or didn't hear him. Spike didn't make another effort for her attention. It was enough of a miracle that the ancient mare was even still alive; it would be another miracle if he could yell loud enough for her to hear him without her ear horn.

Two young foals, one filly and one colt kicked up dust as they ran towards the dragon. Both wore sad looks on their little faces.

"Uncle Spike!" they shouted in unison.

"Uncle Spike, ma' says you're goin' away!" said the filly.

"What she said!" The colt pointed at his sister

Spike smiled at the children, Honeycrisp and Anjou Pear. They were Applejack's and Bartlett's twin foals.

"It's not true… is it, uncle Spike?" Honeycrisp asked, growing misty-eyed. Like her namesake, her braided mane was a light shade of yellowish-gold and her coat a slightly darker shade of gold.

"Yer not REALLY goin' away!" Anjou said. His plain, straight mane was more of a yellowish green and his coat pale green. The spitting image of his father.

"Ummm… yeah, I am," Spike said as he knelt down before the two little earth ponies.

"That's not fair! Who's gonna play with me?" Anjou shouted as he stamped his forehoof, giving Spike a glare.

"Hey, I'll be back! You can play with your sister until then."

Anjou turned his glare to his sister. "Yeah, right! She can't even catch!"

"Ah can so, Anjou!"

"Not as good as Spike!"

"Ok, you two, knock it off," Spike said as he stood up. From a patch of apple trees in the distance, a familiar mare wearing a wide-brimmed hat over her blond hair galloped up to them. A green stallion was with her, and a red stallion beside him.

"Hey, AJ!" Spike shouted. "Big Macintosh! Bartlett!"

The earth pony trio slowed their pace once they were closer and stopped in front of the purple dragon. Smiling, Applejack looked him over. It didn't seem so long ago he was no bigger than Honeycrisp and Anjou. "My my, Spike, ya sure as sugar have grown up faster than I reckoned. Guess I knew this day would come eventually."

Honeycrisp looked up at her mother. "Ma, Spike ain't really goin', is he?"

"For the twentieth time, yes he is." Applejack's heart sank when she saw the sad look in her foals' eyes. The mare lowered herself to their level and hugged both of them. "Now, don't ya'll give me that look. I don't want Spike to go neither, but he's a big dragon now. Why don't the two of ya go run along so's we can talk?"

The two foals turned to their father. "Paw, do we have to?" Anjou asked.

"Listen to your mother, Anjou."

For a few seconds, the children looked at their parents in disbelief. They gave Spike one last hug around the ankles and ran off.

"Sorry, Spike. I just don't know what I'm gonna do with those young'ins. And here I thought Applebloom was enough of a chore!"

"It's ok, Applejack. It's nice to have somepony who looks up to you."

Applejack scraped her hoof across the dirt. "Well, I'm not much for goodbyes, seein' as they're so sad and stuff. But ya'll take good care of yourself, y'hear? And don't even THINK about skippin' out on Sweet Apple-Pear Acres when ya come back. There'll be a nice warm apple pie waitin' for ya when ya do."

"And some big ol' pear turnovers," Bartlett added.

"Ee-yup!" said Big Macintosh.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Spike replied. Just the thought of the Apple family's sweet apple pie made him hungry. Bartlett's pear turnovers were hard to turn down, too.

An awkward silence fell over on the farm before Applejack moved closer to Spike. "Aw, shoot, ya'll are practically family, Spike! Whatcha bein' so shy for? Give ol' AJ a hug!"

Again, Spike neared tears as he and Applejack embraced one another. After that, he gave Big Mac and Bartlett a quick hug, then stepped back far enough to look at all of them at once. "Well, I'm gonna go. Gotta stop by Pinkie Keen's before I leave. You know how Pinkie Pie gets when you make her wait."

The Apple Family all waved Spike good-bye as he ran back for Ponyville. He sure was going to miss all their sweet, delicious desserts

The next pony on Spike's list was Pinkie Pie, who now owned her own sweets shop called "Pinkie Keen's." Like Twilight, Pinkie hadn't yet found a special somepony to settle down with, not that the phrase "settle down" existed in her vocabulary.

Pinkie Keen's wasn't as extravagant as Sugar Cube Corner. Unlike the giant ginger bread house, Pinkie Keen's was an unassuming little cupcake house painted pink with wooden cupcakes and candy canes decorating the store sign.

Tears flowed like waterfalls from Pinkie's eyes as she wailed out loud from behind her work counter. "I can't believe Spikey's leaving us! It's so sad!"

"Don't cry, Pinkie. I'll be back!"

Pinkie's tears stopped as suddenly as they appeared. "Oh! I have a cake for you!" The pink pony ducked behind the counter for only a second before popping up to set a delicious looking square cake on the countertop.

Spike took a moment to marvel at his cake. Glittering gems in every color of the rainbow outlined the top of. His face had been frosted on it, along with the words, "Goodbye, Spike! We will miss you!" The names of his six best friends had also been written on it, each in different hoofwriting and a different color of frosting. Twilight Sparkle in purple, Pinkie Pie in pink, Rainbow Dash in powder blue, Fluttershy in yellow, Applejack in orange and Rarity in navy blue.

"Wow! Did everypony sign this themselves?"

"Yesiree, Bob! I made it just the way you like it, with gems and extra frosting!"

A smile Spike couldn't fight spread across his face. Even Rainbow Dash had signed her own name on the cake. He'd never expected her to do something so… feminine. He truly had the best friends a dragon could ask for.

"Thanks, Pinkie. It's almost too good to eat. It means so much to me."

Again, with no warning, tears ran like waterfalls from Pinkie's eyes. "Waaa-ha-ha-ha-haaaa! I'm gonna miss you, Spikey-Wikey!" She leaped over her counter in one bound and wrapped Spike in one of her spine-crushing hugs.

"I'm gonna miss you, too, Pinkie, but I can't breathe right now."

"Sorry 'bout that!" As suddenly as her tears started again, they stopped again. "Don't you worry about me, I'll be fine! I'll give you lots and lots of cupcakes and ice cream and candy when you get back! You go have fun travelling and camping and sight-seeing, you can tell your auntie Pinkie Pie all about it when you get back!"

"Will do, Pinkie," Spike said as he picked up his cake and the wooden plate it stood on. "Well, I'm heading off to Canterlot now. I'm gonna say goodbye to Celestia, Luna and Rarity before I leave."

"Okey-dokey-lokey, Spike! Have fun!" the pink pony shouted with a good-bye wave,

"Bye, Pinkie!"

Spike stashed his cake in a separate compartment of his pack where it wouldn't get smashed. The plastic wrap covering it would be enough protection until he could stop to eat.

Canterlot Castle overlooked Ponyville from the far mountains. Though the castle was huge, it looked like a toy from that distance. Rarity lived there now with a gentlecolt she'd met from Trottingham. It hurt for a while knowing his long time crush had found somepony other than him, but Sapphire had made Spike realize something. He'd rather find another dragon to hook up with instead of a pony. Spike would still be a young adult dragon by the time Rarity was as old as Granny Smith. He also longed for a creature that would be closer to his size. With nothing else to do, Spike walked off towards Canterlot, though he'd barely made it to the edge of Ponyville before a loud voice halted his advance.

"Hey, Spike!"

The dragon looked skyward and smiled. Rainbow Dash was descending towards him from Cloudsdale.

"Dash!" Spike yelled back. Once Dash landed, the two gave each other a quick one-arm hug and a high five. "Did you come to see me off?"

Rainbow gave Spike a friendly wink. "Well, yeah! You didn't think I'd let you leave without saying goodbye to your old pal Rainbow Dash, did ya?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

Dash turned her head away, fidgeting with her forehoof. "This is usually beneath my level of awesomeness, but… I'm gonna miss you, old buddy. You know what you should do, you should go track down that girl dragon you met all those years ago."

"I don't know, it's been a long time. We hardly even write anymore. She's probably found a special dragon of her own by now."

"You never know until you try. What could it hurt?"

_My heart, for one thing. I'll never forget how much it hurt when she left. _"Hey, why are you pestering me about love? I don't exactly see you flying around with any big, strong stallions."

Dash scoffed and waved the notion away. "Please. I'm way too busy being the awesome leader of the awesome Rainbowlts for mushy things like love." Dash's typical awesome face turned to a normal look to let him know what came next wasn't a part of her typical "awesome" routine. "Spike, you two had something good going on. She wasn't like other dragons. You're not like other dragons."

"That was ten years ago. She's probably changed by now. If we were meant to be together, we would have hung out longer than one week."

"Ok, you win. This is your big day, I'm not gonna argue with you. We'll hang some when you get back, but until then, see ya!" Dash looked around nervously, her magenta eyes darting as if she felt pressured to do something that would embarrass her. She decided to fly off before she had a chance to do it, but only got a few inches off the ground before Spike's voice stopped her.

"Wait a second, Dash!"

Dash dropped back to her hooves. "What's up?"

"I know you're not going to let me leave without giving me a hug. A REAL hug, not just a one-arm buddy hug."

Dash glanced around to see if anypony was watching. Assuring herself she was in the clear, she embraced Spike with both front legs. "Aw, what the heck? I wanted to anyway!"

"Thanks, Dash," Spike said. "Stay awesome!"

"You know it!" Dash said after letting Spike go. With one last high five, she bolted back into the air.

With a deep breath of courage, Spike turned back towards Canterlot. All that was left was to say goodbye to Fluttershy on his way there, say goodbye to Rarity and the princesses, and he was off on his own. Despite his objections to Dash's advice about Sapphire, the blue dragoness from long ago stuck in his mind. They rarely wrote to each other anymore, but he supposed ten straight years of nothing but writing does get a bit dull when you can't see each other. His heart fluttered at the idea of seeing her again. Maybe after he finished his business in Canterlot, he could send her a letter, find out where she was at and drop in on her.

If it wound up working no better than last time, at least he'd have the peace of mind from seeing her one more time.


	3. Chapter 3

The fiery orange glow of the sunset cast itself over the far reaches of Equestria near the Dragonlands, where Sapphire engaged in her usual sunset flight to stretch her wings one last time before turning in for the night. Few things felt more relaxing than the cool evening wind against her face as she sailed over the forest a few miles from her cathedral.

A small pony village called Buckington stood just at the edge of the forest. It was Sunset Breeze's hometown, but none of the ponies seemed to mind whenever Sapphire flew over the village. This time as she did, however, something was definitely wrong. A familiar, foreboding prickle worked its way up the dragon's spine as she neared the settlement.

_Uh-oh. This isn't good. My dragon sense is tingling all over. Better make sure everything's ok._

As Sapphire descended closer to the village, a sight among the group of houses made her freeze in midair.

"What the?"

In the village square below were several dragons and a single-file line of ponies all connected to each other by chains and iron collars around their necks.

Sapphire dove to the ground and crouched against the side of a house on the edge of town farthest from the other dragons. As she peered around the corner with her serpentine neck to investigate, the realization of her mistake kept her from advancing. There were roughly a dozen dragons a little larger than her at around six feet tall each, lined up in two parallel rows in the village square. They certainly were not as large as full-grown dragons, but the fullness of their features and the fine points of their snouts lead her to believe they were adults. Younger dragons had rounded snouts. Another odd fact she noticed was these dragons all had pitch black scales. There wasn't a red, blue or green dragon among them. Were they a part of some sort of faction?

This little plan had gone so much better in her head. There were so many other dragons and only one of her; if she tried to help she'd be spotted and captured in an instant. Nonetheless, she watched the scene unfold to see if she could learn anything else about these mysterious dragons.

"Let's go, keep moving!" one of the dragons shouted as he prodded a reluctant mare in the flank with the butt of his spear.

"Princess Celestia will never let you get away with this," a stallion replied.

"Once we get you into the Dragonlands, you'll be out of her jurisdiction. She can't help you!" another dragon barked. "Now move it!"

_Those jerks!_ Sapphire thought to herself as she watched the chain of ponies march in between the two rows of dragons. [i]What are they doing, and why are they taking ponies to the Dragonlands? They better not hurt those ponies![/i]

Among the chain gang of ponies was a pegasi couple connected to each other. One of them looked just like Sunset Breeze if she were older. The stallion behind her also held a slight resemblance to Sapphire's filly friend. Those were the only pegasi Sapphire could see. Did that mean?

_They must be Sunset's parents! Oh, what should I do? What should I do?! _Closing her eyes, Sapphire drew her head back behind the wall of the house. She took in a deep breath to compose herself and let it slowly escape through her nostrils._ Stop panicking, for one thing. Now, think, Sapphire. What can you do? It's not like I can just charge right in there. I do have my ice powers, but one attack on any of those dragons, even from my hiding spot, will send the others looking for whoever did it, and that will spoil any hope I have of getting out of here without them seeing me. Following them would also be too risky. Hmmm…_

Once again, Sapphire peered around the corner of the house, only to realize it was too late to keep thinking. The last pony in the chain gang was already out of view, and Sapphire barely caught a glimpse of the last dark dragon holding up the rear of the line as he marched out of the village. _Those poor ponies. They must be terrified. _

Now that the dragons were gone, Sapphire felt more comfortable looking the village over. Now it was oddly quiet. The only ponies left watching the scene were young foals, crying and clutching the legs of older ponies who Sapphire guessed were their grandparents. Some of the old ponies had to restrain the children from chasing after their parents into certain danger.

_So, only the very young and the old were left behind. That figures… those cowards. I wish Spike was here, he'd know what to do._

For a moment, Sapphire considered going into the village to ask the remaining ponies if they knew where the dragons were taking the others or if they knew what the dragons were planning to do to with them, but walking right into a village that just got raided by a group of dragons hardly seemed like a smart idea when you WERE a dragon. Realizing there was nothing more to do; Sapphire picked herself up and began the flight back to her attic.

As she soared over Equestria's lonely, quiet countryside, Sapphire puzzled for something she could do to help those ponies. She was only one dragon, after all, and had very few friends… except for Spike. Even though she hadn't seen him for ten years, finding him and his friends was the best plan Sapphire could come up with. They could tell Princess Celestia what she'd just seen. Surely somepony as powerful as Celestia could help.

"Miss Sapphire!"

A young, panicked voice snapped the dragon from her thoughts. She shifted her focus on the forest below where she'd met Sunset Breeze that morning.

"MISS SAPPHIRE, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Sapphire dove underneath the branches to look for the shouting filly hidden underneath them. "Is that you, Sunset? I'm right here!"

The sound of little hoofsteps came from behind the dragon, who twisted around to find Sunset Breeze galloping up to her. With no warning, the young pony slammed into Sapphire with all her weight and wrapped her forelegs around the dragon's knees.

"Miss Sapphire, it was terrible!" Sunset's voice was shaky and sobbing.

"Shhh…" Sapphire rubbed the filly's back with her paw to calm her down. "It's ok, Sunset. What happened?"

"It's not okay! A bunch of mean dragons came, and they tied everypony up and they-they took my mom and dad!"

Sapphire felt her heart sink at those words. So the pegasi she saw WERE Sunset's parents. Not knowing what to do, the dragon crouched down and wrapped the filly in a hug, which the young pony quickly returned with one of her own. "I'm so sorry, Sunset."

Sunset Breeze cried and sobbed into Sapphire's chest, shivering all the while. Being a dragon, Sapphire could smell and almost taste the filly's fear and regret. "Hey, c'mon, don't do that. I'm sure they're fine, and I know Princess Celestia wouldn't let anything bad happen to them."

Sunset looked up at Sapphire with her big, blue, tearful eyes. "You think so?" the filly asked with a big sniff.

"You can bet on it."

"Well, what am I supposed to do until then? I'm too scared to go back to Buckington. What if those dragons come back?"

"Listen, you can come stay with me."

With another sniff, Sunset wiped the tears from her face. "Can I?"

"As long as it takes for your mommy and daddy to come back. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you."

Sunset hugged Sapphire again. "Thanks, miss Sapphire. I-I'm still a little scared, though. Where do you live?"

"Well, I can show you. And you're welcome."

As Sunset felt herself lifted from the ground by Sapphire, the filly couldn't help but smile. Sometimes her mother would let her fly on her back, but this was the first time Sapphire took her flying. Instead of riding on the dragon's back, she found herself simply being carried off by Sapphire's strong front legs. Being held in Sapphire's grip like that made Sunset feel safer.

Soon, a large cathedral came into view, though instead of landing and taking her through the front door, Sunset watched Sapphire fly in through the shattered attic window. It was dark and dusty up there, but Sunset felt a sense of security knowing she had someone strong like Sapphire there beside her.

The attic wasn't much more than a large storage space, with only a few cardboard boxes scattered about the room, certainly no toys to play with. Sapphire smiled as she watched the little filly scamper about the attic, exploring every inch of its triangular shape and peering into each of the boxes on the floor. How cute. After a while, the dragon ignored Sunset, dropped to her belly and curled herself up to think.

"Hey, miss Sapphire!"

Before she even had a chance to consider what to do, Sapphire heard Sunset's voice and watched the filly run up to her carrying a square piece of paper.

"What's this picture of?"

Sunset showed the picture to Sapphire. It was the same picture Spike had sent her all those years ago when she was still a baby dragon. There she was, hugging Spike tightly and smiling.

"Oh, that was me and a… good friend of mine, a long time ago."

"What happened to your friend?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't seen him since then."

"Do you want to see him again?"

Sapphire shut her eyes tight to block the pain of the memories of leaving him. "Yes, I would."

"I'm sorry, miss Sapphire," Sunset replied after seeing the pained look on her friend's face. "I didn't mean to make you remember sad stuff."

"It's ok, Sunset. Maybe we should just get some sleep. We'll figure out what to do about your mom and dad tomorrow, ok?"

"Promise?"

"I promise."

The sunset had darkened further, lighting the attic with only a few subtle beams of dull orange light coming from the shattered window. Sapphire yawned and rested her neck against the floor. Soon after, Sunset crawled under the dragon's right front leg for security and comfort. With a smile, Sapphire shut her eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Fluttershy's quiet little meadow hadn't changed much in the last ten years. She still lived in her tree cottage, but a second, larger brick building had been built next to her tree several years ago. This was "A Helping Hoof for Animal Friends." The ponies usually just called it "A Helping Hoof." It was the pride and joy of Fluttershy's life, her very own shelter for sick, abused and homeless animals. Over one hundred cats, dogs and birds had been given to new homes all over Equestria from A Helping Hoof, but Fluttershy always felt the same level of happiness and pride every time an animal got adopted.

"Good afternoon, and welcome to A Helping Hoof for Animal Friends," Fluttershy said at the ringing of the bell above the door, which signaled that somepony had entered the shelter. Only, not somePONY, someDRAGON. The shy look on the pegasus' face turned to a smile at the sight of her customer. "Oh, hi, Spike."

"Hi, Fluttershy," the purple dragon answered with a wave. "How's business?"

"Oh, just wonderful. A family from Baltimare came in about an hour ago and adopted a litter of cute little kittens. It feels so wonderful knowing they have a nice new home."

"That's great news!" Spike said. His elated smile turned to a frown as he fidgeted upon remembering the real purpose of his visit, his train of thought trailing at the sounds of dogs barking in the back of the shelter. "Listen, Fluttershy, I didn't really come here to talk about animals."

"Oh… my. Yes. Twilight told me." Fluttershy also gave off a frown as she stepped around the front counter to meet Spike face-to-face. "You're leaving today, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am. Just for a while, though. I'll be back!"

"You'll be careful, won't you?"

"Of course I will!"

Averting her kind blue eyes from Spike's gaze, Fluttershy scraped her hoof across the floor. "Well, maybe you'd like to adopt a pet to keep you company while you're gone?"

"Thanks but no thanks," Spike said with a laugh. "I'm gonna be busy enough just taking care of myself. Not sure I could handle a pet, too."

Tears welled up in Fluttershy's eyes and streaked down her face as she looked back up at the dragon. He was hardly that little dragonling she'd met all those years ago. After a breath of courage, she raised up on her hind legs to wrap Spike in a hug.

"Oh, I'm gonna miss you, Spike"

"I'll miss you, too, Fluttershy," Spike answered as he patted the pegasus on the back. "Well," he continued once Fluttershy let him go. "I gotta head over to Canterlot before I leave. I need to say goodbye to Rarity, Celestia and Luna."

"Goodbye, Spike!" Fluttershy called after the dragon as he walked out the front door. "Take care of yourself, and come back soon!

Rarity's place was next on Spike's list. She'd opened up a second Carousel Boutique in Canterlot and was now an expecting mother. Spike remembered the good times they had together as he flew off towards the huge mountain city. Their escapade with the Diamond Dogs, how they beat King Sombra, or that fateful day he gave her a fire ruby that he had originally planned to eat. That was the past, though, before she met Dudley Diamonds, a wealthy gentlecolt from Trottingham.

Well, formerly wealthy. Spike knew that Dudley's family was LOADED, but the Earth Stallion was removed from the family's inheritance will by his own choice. Upset with the fact that he'd fallen in love with an ordinary Ponyville mare instead of a rich Trottingham mare, his parents gave him a choice: Rarity, or the money. The stallion chose love over wealth and the two were married at Canterlot Castle a year later. Dudley's parents did not attend the ceremony.

Finally, Spike reached the sprawling capital city of Equestria and hurriedly jogged through the town, dodging the crowds of upper-class ponies as he made his way towards Canterlot's Carousel Boutique. It looked very similar to the one in Ponyville, only a little larger. Spike knocked on the door to be greeted by a sky-blue stallion. A thin black mustache trimmed his upper lip, and his black hair had been slicked back with shiny gel.

"Oh, Spike! Hello there, dear boy! What brings you to these parts?"

"Well, I just wanted to check on Rarity and say goodbye to her before I leave."

The mustached pony put a hoof to his chin in thought. "By Jove, today's the day, is it?"

"Yup! I'm going off on an adventure of self-discovery… or something like that."

"Well, in that case, be prepared to tell me all about it when you return, I would love to hear of your future exploits! But until then, what say I quit this rudeness and let you inside. Rarity is in her room."

The gentlecolt took point and led Spike through the main lobby of the store, filled with Rarity's latest fashion designs. Dudley kept moving and opened the door in the back that led to Rarity's bedroom, where the white unicorn lie peacefully in bed with the gentle smile of an expecting mother. A bulge in the pink blankets indicated the developing foal inside Rarity's stomach.

"Hey, Rarity. How are you feeling?"

Smiling, Rarity rubbed the lump on her stomach as she eyed her soon-to-be child with a look of pride. "I've been feeling a little rough lately, but I suppose that means she's about ready. I can hardly wait. Can you imagine it, Spike? Me, a mother!"

"Knowing you, she'll turn out just fine," Spike replied.

"Oh, do forgive me, Spike. I know your visit isn't about me, it's about you… leaving."

"Yeah, I just wanted to come say goodbye." Spike said as he stepped closer to the bed so Rarity could embrace him with her front legs.

"Oh, Spikey-Wikey. Do take care of yourself, and come back soon."

"I'm more worried about you, actually," Spike replied, still caught in Rarity's hug.

"Oh, always the gentleman!" Rarity released Spike, rested her back against the bed and smiled up at the dragon. "But don't worry about me too much, I've got Dudley here for me. You just go and have fun. I'm sure there's some lovely young dragoness out there who would melt for a sweet, giving thing like yourself."

Those words brought a strange nervousness to Spike's gut. There was only one dragoness he'd met who was anything like that… Sapphire.

"Well," Spike answered, fidgeting with his foot, "maybe there is. Maybe there isn't."

"Come now, darling, you never know until you try, right?"

"I guess you're right." Spike sighed and smiled one last time at Rarity. "Well, I gotta go see the princesses before I leave. Bye, Rarity!"

"Bye, Spikey-Wikey!"

Spike turned to Dudley. "Take good care of her, ok? When I come back, I'm gonna be that kid's favorite dragon!"

"I shall gladly oblige, Spike." Dudley gave a polite bow and showed Spike to the door. "Take care, old chap!"

"You, too, good chum!" Spike yelled back as he ran off towards the humongous castle looming over the entire city.

Spike moved past the guards, still as statues. Perhaps a newcomer to Canterlot Castle would take the time to marvel at the castle's many treasures, but Spike had seen the priceless paintings on the walls and the occasional suit of ancient pony armor in the hall dozens of times, so he regarded them as nothing special as he made his way to the throne room, where a tall white alicorn with a flowing blue and pink mane, and a shorter alicorn the shade of midnight blue, awaited him.

"Spike, my beloved subject!" Celestia said, smiling. She waited until Spike got down on a knee in respect, then wrapped a foreleg around him when he stood back up. "Look how you've grown. I'm very proud of you. Why, I remember when you were just a tiny egg." The alicorn released Spike and smiled down on him. "But now the time has come for you to show me what Twilight Sparkle and the magic of friendship have taught you. You are free to go wherever you please. Perhaps you'll explore the Dragonlands and get to know your kind better."

"I was actually planning on doing that, yeah," Spike answered as Luna stepped closer to him.

"We have always been fond of thou, fair Spike. We would like thee to have this." Luna closed her eyes and concentrated, and a midnight blue stone with a yellow crescent jewel encased in its center materialized in front of her. She guided it into Spike's palm.

"Wow! I've never seen a gem like this before. It looks delicious!" Drooling, Spike touched his snout to the stone and sniffed. "It smells delicious, too!"

As Spike opened his maw wide to take a bite, Luna removed it from his palm with her magic. "No, Spike. This is not intended to be consumed. It is a moonstone, and the only one of its kind. We hope that it will prompt thou to remember us when gazed upon."

A gift from Princess Luna. Spike could hardly believe it. Luna was so beautiful and graceful. When the moonstone landed back in Spike's palm, he held it close to him with more purpose than a few seconds ago. Spike looked Luna in the eyes, but quickly looked away. For some reason, pretty eyes made him nervous, and he'd always found Luna's to be the most beautiful eyes of anypony he'd known. "Thank you, princess. I'll take good care of it."

"I would love to hear about your travels and what you learn along the way, Spike," Celestia said with a trusting smile. "You know you can write to me anytime you feel like it."

"Of course I know that."

Though she was well over 1,000 years old, the alicorn still looked as youthful and graceful as ever. Her soft voice, gentle demeanor and great wisdom always had a way of soothing Spike's nerves. It felt more comfortable to leave knowing the ancient princess was only a letter away if he ever needed advice, no matter how far away he went.

"Well, I'm gonna go now. Thanks Celestia, Luna!" After giving each princess a quick hug, Spike beat his wings and flew out the open window, where Celestia and Luna waved him off.

"Forgive me, sister, but what we are doing hardly seems ethical," said Luna after Spike was out of earshot. She was still waving after the dragon's flying form.

"I know," Celestia answered as she walked back to the throne, "but unless we want to risk a full-scale war with dragons, he is our only hope, and I needn't tell you how disastrous a war against dragons would be for Equestria. My subjects are so dear to me, and a war would put thousands of them at risk. We must also factor in war expenses and weigh the risks of our towns being destroyed."

"We could have at least told him why we convinced Twilight Sparkle to let him leave." Luna took a seat next to her sister.

"We're not forcing him into anything, that's why I did not tell him I want him to investigate what is going on in the Dragonlands. He must make a decision on his own, and I have faith he will make the right choice. Moreover, I hardly doubt he will go it alone."

"What dost thou mean, sister?"

"I could sense it, both in his eyes and in his soul, there is another dragon close to his heart. A dragon who wishes to be friends with ponykind. Spike is the only Equestrian who can enter the Dragonlands without rousing suspicion."

"So, thy plot is to use Spike as a mole to find out what the dragons are up to, without him even knowing it?" Luna answered with a knowing smile. "Thou art so clever, sister."

Celestia shook off the notion with a negative shake of her head. "Don't think I'm not feeling guilty about this. It's just, if we wish to avoid a war, those two may be our only hope."

Luna closed her eyes and sighed. Once Celestia made a decision, it was almost impossible to sway her. "Let us hope they succeed."


	5. Chapter 5

Sapphire spent the morning catching animals for her breakfast, though she hardly had the appetite for more than a couple small birds or rodents. Her mind was still wracked with the events she'd seen yesterday and what she could do to help, especially for little Sunset. The filly had gone a separate way to pick some more berries on the promise she wouldn't go too far from Sapphire.

The dragon's jaws snapped down on her third bird of the morning, which she downed with a satisfied gulp. As good as it felt to get some food in her stomach; the dragon was still troubled with constant mental images of dragons orchestrating a full invasion of Equestria. It seemed unlikely that the dragons would be satisfied picking on one tiny pony village, but Sapphire hoped her images were merely the result of worry and not a premonition.

"HEEELP! SOMEPONY HELP ME!"

A shrill voice pierced the silence of the forest to snap Sapphire out of her thoughts. The fins on her head perked up_. That sounded like Sunset!_

She darted back through the trees until she came upon the spot where she and Sunset had split up. Crouched behind a pair of short trees, Sapphire pulled the branches back to see Sunset Breeze, her eyes wide with fear. Three dark dragons had her cornered against the bark of a humongous oak.

"She bit me!" one of the dragons shouted, reeling away from the filly and shaking his forepaw.

Sapphire watched Sunset rise in the hands of another dragon, who quickly yelped and dropped the young pony, holding his leg. "Owww! My shin!"

"Feisty little brat," said the third dragon. "That's good, means she'll serve us well."

Sapphire inched her way under the branches, careful not to alert the other dragons to her presence. She especially didn't want Sunset to spot her; the filly would undoubtedly call out the name of her dragon friend upon seeing her and thus foil her attempt at a discreet rescue. Once clear of the branches, Sapphire sighed in relief. The black dragons still had their backs turned. Sapphire drew in a long breath of air to prepare her ice breath, but had no time to release it before a child's voice rang through the woods.

"MISS SAPPHIRE! HELP ME!"

Hearing this, the three black dragons snapped around and oriented on their blue intruder. For a couple seconds, Sapphire cursed Sunset's outburst, but the terror in the filly's voice assured the ice dragon she was doing the right thing.

"Huh? Where'd she come from? Get her!" one of the three dark dragons shouted.

A blast of harsh cold spewed from Sapphire's mouth, encasing the dark dragon on point in a thick blanket of frost. Icicles dangled from his chin and arms. This distraction opened a large window of time that allowed a previously unseen fourth dragon to dive through the branches, scoop Sunset in his arms and vanish above the trees once again. The other dragons turned their attention away from Sapphire and followed the foalnapper through the branches.

Sapphire wasn't about to let them get away with it. Not this time. After a deep breath to collect her resolve, she beat her wings and burst through the top of the trees after the quartet of kidnappers. Taking point was a purple dragon who held Sunset Breeze firmly in his forelimbs. The two remaining dark dragons flanked each other behind him. They seemed to give little concern for their frozen comrade, which struck Sapphire as typical dragon behavior.

_Why is the lead dragon purple when the rest of them were black?_ Sapphire thought to herself, still in hot pursuit. _And why does he look familiar?_

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Sapphire convinced herself it didn't matter who these dragons were; she wouldn't let them hurt Sunset. Concentrating, she formed a thick ball of ice in her right hand until the frozen orb was ten inches in diameter. Sapphire ascended to position herself for a clear shot at one of the dark dragons. Several yards above the foalnappers, Sapphire took aim and hurled her projectile at the dark dragon on the left. The ball of ice bounced off the top of the dragon's skull and sent him spiraling to the ground. _That's one down._

The dragon on point looked over his shoulder to find that one of his comrades had fallen, and dove back through the leaves. The remaining dark dragon dove after him, followed by Sapphire holding the rear. Branches scratched at Sapphire's face and pulled her hair as she glided through the trees, but the ice dragon kept after Sunset's foalnappers, weaving her way around branches and dodging tree trunks. Sapphire judged the lead dragon was having just as much trouble as she was, as he spread his wings and shot upwards above the trees. She followed the dark dragon after him.

Free from the worry of dodging trunks and branches, Sapphire found another opportunity to cast a spell. She closed her eyes and concentrated, summoning a bluish frosty mist into her paws, A thick barrier of ice surrounded the remaining dark dragon, trapping him inside of it. The icy orb dropped to the ground below.

Sapphire groaned to herself. There was only one dragon left, the purple one holding Sunset. How was she going to bring him down without hurting the filly, too? Knocking him out of the air at that height would put Sunset in greater danger. Even though she was a pegasus, she was just an eight year old filly and likely couldn't survive a fall from that height.

The forest below had begun to fade out into an open, grassy field with only a few shrubs and bushes speckling the prairie. All the better for her, Sapphire thought. That wide open space would leave very few places for Sunset's foalnapper to hide compared to a thick forest.

Luck seemed to be on Sapphire's side, for the purple dragon dove to the field below and landed on his feet. Sapphire watched from high above as his form squeezed itself into a shrub in the middle of the prairie. The ice dragon dove until she touched the ground and approached the purple dragon's hiding spot.

"I know you're in that bush!" Sapphire shouted. "Let that little girl go, now!"

"What's going on?" The purple dragon whispered to the little filly he'd rescued, panting from all the fast flying. "Do you know each other or something?"

"Yeah, that's my friend Sapphire!"

"I'm not messing around here!" Sapphire yelled again as a result of the silence that answered her. "I'll… I'll hurt you if I have to!"

"Did you say 'Sapphire?" The purple dragon's eyes widened as he ran his paw across the top of his head. "H-how do my spines look?"

Sunset giggled at her benefactor's odd behavior and jumped out of the bush to greet Sapphire with a smile.

Sapphire had been charging an ice spell up in her paws, but let her arms down at the sight of the filly. The frosty mist surrounding her claws vanished. "Sunset! You're ok!"

"Well, sure! He's actually not a bad dragon, and his name is Spike!"

Sapphire felt her blood freeze at the mention of that name. "Spike?"

Heart pounding and mouth agape in disbelief, Sapphire walked towards the bush Sunset had been hiding in. "Spike, is it really you?"

The purple dragon who had snatched Sunset earlier crawled out from his hiding place, approached the icy blue dragon and stood face-to-face with her. For what seemed like minutes, the dragons locked eyes, fixated on each other. Ten years had passed since the last time they'd met. So much had changed about each of them. They were both much taller and had grown their wings in, but Sapphire couldn't mistake the smile that spread across Spike's face. She'd NEVER forget that smile.

As Spike looked the blue dragon over, there was no doubt this was the Sapphire from all those years ago. Those big blue catlike eyes were as familiar as they were ten years ago.

"Spike!"

"Sapphire!"

In an instant, the dragons wrapped their arms around each other and held each other close, hearts thumping.

"Sapphire, I missed you so much."

"Oh, Spike, I missed you, too.

At least a minute passed as the two dragons held each other and remained silent to allow the happiness of the moment to sink in. The last time they'd met ended with both of them crying tears of sorrow. Now, tears of happiness wet their faces.


End file.
